Everything about The Creighton Bluejays totally explained
The
Creighton Bluejays, or
Jays, are the athletic teams of
Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University located in
Omaha, Nebraska.
Creighton competes in
NCAA Division I athletics, competing in the
Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton fields 14 teams in eight sports:
Baseball
Creighton's baseball team competes in the Missouri Valley Conference. They are coached by Ed Servais who is in his fifth season as head coach of the Jays. His record at Creighton is 158-76 (.675 winning percentage).
The team plays the majority of its home games on campus at the Creighton University Sports Complex. Occasionally, Creighton will play home contests at
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in
South Omaha, the home of the
NCAA College World Series and the
Omaha Royals of the
Pacific Coast League.
1991 College World SeriesUniversity of Hawaii Rainbows 15-8 in finals of the NCAA West I Regional in
Los Angeles, CA. Prior to the victory over Hawaii, the Jays swept the four-game regional by beating
Pepperdine University,
University of Minnesota and host team
University of Southern California in a 10-inning 8-7 victory.
The seventh-seeded Bluejays (49-20) opened play against the second seeded
Clemson Tigers in front of then record crowd of more than 16,000 at
Rosenblatt Stadium. The game ended with an 8-4 Creighton victory, setting up a second round match with the
Wichita State University Shockers.
The Jays had finished the 1991 regular season with an overall record of 46-18, and a 16-8 record in the
Missouri Valley Conference, good enough for second place behind league champion
Wichita State. The Shockers had swept the regular season four-game series with the Jays, and had also defeated the Jays twice in the 1991 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament.
In one of the more memorable games in
College World Series history, the Shockers defeated the Jays 3-2 in 12 innings. With one out in the bottom of the twelfth inning Wichita State center fielder Jim Audley threw out Creighton's pinch-runner Steve Burns at home plate in a play known to Bluejay and Shocker fans alike as "
the throw." The game was recently ranked third in the list of the 25 greatest games in
College World Series history by the
Omaha World-Herald.
The Jays bounced back to defeat
Long Beach State 13-4 in an elimination game, to set up a rematch with
Wichita State in the National Semifinals. A trip to the title game for Creighton wasn't to be, however, as Wichita State advanced to the National Championship game after defeating Creighton for the eighth time that season, 11-3.
Louisiana State University defeated
Wichita State 6-3 to win the 1991 NCAA Baseball National Championship.
The Bluejays Head Coach during that memorable 1991 season,
Jim Hendry, is now the General Manager of the
Chicago Cubs.
Jim Hendry is also the only former Creighton Bluejay to have his number retired. His name and number (24) hang on the center field fence of Creighton University Sports Complex.
Creighton is the host institution (in coordination with the city of
Omaha) for the NCAA
College World Series.
Team Honors:
Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Champions (1): 2005*
* Outright
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions (1): 2007
NCAA Regionals Appearances (8): 1973, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007
College World Series Appearances (1): 1991
Men's Basketball
Missouri Valley Conference since the 1977-78 season. Prior to the 1977-78 season, the Jays participated as an Independent from 1948-1977.
Creighton's current head coach is
Dana Altman. He became head coach at the beginning of the 1994-1995 season, following stints as the head coach at
Kansas State University and
Marshall University. Through the 2006-2007 season, Altman owns a record of 282-152 (.651 winning percentage) at Creighton.
The men's team plays all of their home games at the
Qwest Center Omaha (17,560). The 2007-2008 season was their fifth at Qwest Center Omaha; Creighton owns a 68-13 (.839 winning percentage) record in their five years at Qwest Center Omaha. Creighton's average home game attendance during the 2006-2007 season was 15,333, good enough for 15th nationally.
Prior to the Qwest Center, Creighton played their home games at the
Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,100). The
Omaha Civic Auditorium is the current home of the Creighton women's basketball and volleyball teams.
Famous individuals associated with Creighton basketball include former players:
Bob Gibson,
Paul Silas, Bob Portman,
Gene Harmon,
Benoit Benjamin, Bob Harstad, Chad Gallagher,
Rodney Buford,
Kyle Korver, Ryan Sears, Ben Walker,
Nate Funk, and
Anthony Tolliver. Famous former coaches include "Red" McManus,
Eddie Sutton,
Willis Reed,
Eddie Hickey, Tony Barone, and
Arthur A. Schabinger.
The all-time leading scorer in Creighton men's basketball history is Rodney Buford. Buford finished his four-year career at Creighton with 2,116 points.
Creighton University, in combination with the
Missouri Valley Conference, was the host institution for the First and Second Rounds site at
Qwest Center Omaha during the
2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
Team Honors:
AP National Champions: 1942-43
Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Champions (13): 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32*, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1940-41*, 1941-42, 1942-43*, 1977-78*, 1988-89*, 1990-91*, 2000-01*, 2001-02
* Outright
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions (10): 1978, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007
NCAA Tournament Appearances (16): 1941, 1962, 1964, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007
NIT Appearances (9): 1942, 1943, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008
Guardians Classic Tournament Champions (2): 2002, 2004
Women's Basketball
The women's basketball team is coached by
Jim Flanery, and were the
2004 WNIT Champions. They play their home games at the
Omaha Civic Auditorium.
In 2008, the Creighton volleyball and women's basketball teams will begin play at the new D.J. Sokol Arena on the campus of Creighton. D.J. Sokol Arena will be part of the new Ryan Athletics Center, to be located on the northeast corner of Webster Street and Florence Boulevard, just north of
Morrison Stadium.
The Ryan Athletics Center will also become the main office of the Creighton Athletic Department.
Team Honors:
Western Athletic Conference Regular Season Champions (2): 1990-91*, 1991-92*
* Outright
Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Champions (2): 2001-02*, 2002-03
* Outright
Western Athletic Conference Tournament Champions (1): 1992
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions (1): 2002
NCAA Tournament Appearances (3): 1992, 1994, 2002
WNIT Appearances (5): 1987, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008
WNIT Champions (1): 2004
Men's Soccer
The men's soccer team has gone to the
NCAA Tournament every year for the last 16 years with three appearances in the
College Cup and one appearance in the National Championship Match--as well as being the only soccer program in the nation to have at least one athlete taken in every
Major League Soccer (MLS) draft from 1996 - 2005.
Creighton plays their home matches at
Morrison Stadium (capacity appx. 6,000), located at 19th (Florence Blvd.) and California Streets in Omaha's near-north side. The stadium is named after former Creighton University President Fr. Michael Morrison, S.J.
Prior to the 2003 season, Creighton played their home games at Tranquility Park in West Omaha.
Team Honors:
Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Champions (8): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2007
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions (10): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006
NCAA Tournament Appearances (16): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
NCAA College Cup Appearances (3): 1996, 2000*, 2002
*National Runner-Up
Former Bluejays and Current Active MLS Players: Mehdi Ballouchy (
Real Salt Lake);
Brian Mullan (
Houston Dynamo);
Richard Mulrooney (
Houston Dynamo);
David Wagenfuhr (
FC Dallas); Michael Kraus (
Kansas City Wizards);
Andrew Peterson (
Columbus Crew);
Ryan Junge (
Columbus Crew); Tony Schmitz (
D.C. United); Tim Bohnenkamp (
San Jose Earthquakes)
Women's Soccer
The women's soccer team has won three of the last five Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championships, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in each of those years. The team also plays its home games on-campus at
Morrison Stadium.
Team Honors:
Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Champions (1): 2002
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions (4): 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007
NCAA Tournament Appearances (4): 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007
Further Information
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